Bonded Warehouse

Goods sit in the warehouse under customs control while the duty is suspended, so an importer can hold stock close to the market and pay duty only as goods are withdrawn for domestic use, or re-export them without paying the import duty at all. On the desk the shipment is tracked as bonded until it clears: each withdrawal is a customs event, and the goods stay in customs custody until duty is paid, the goods are re-exported, or they are destroyed under customs supervision. A bonded warehouse differs from an ordinary warehouse, where the goods have already cleared customs and duty is paid, and it overlaps with but is not the same as a foreign trade zone, which sits outside the customs territory for duty purposes and allows broader processing. The decision it drives is cash flow and timing: defer the duty and keep the re-export option open, weighed against the cost and compliance of holding goods in bond.